Serving
Presbyterian Women (PW)
Mission and service are the focus of many Presbyterian Women activities. They recently made a mission commitment of $1,000 to Oikocredit, which provides small, low-interest mircoloans in developing countries. Other projects include Kemmerer Village, a Presbyterian residential youth treatment facility near Assumption, and Alphalit, which provides literacy and nutrition education around the world.
The Presbyterian Women's current Bible Study is Joshua: A Journey of Faith. PW Circles meet for study on the second and third Tuesdays of each month. Meeting at various venues, and often in the homes of church members, the second Tuesday group meets at 10:00 a.m. and the third Tuesday group meets at 7:30 p.m.
Local Mission
The Coalition for People in Need (CPN) - Seven churches in our area join together to provide emergency assistance to residents of Charleston. First Presbyterian Church founded CPN to help with utility bills, rent, food, gasoline, and prescription drugs. You may volunteer to work with CPN or make a donation to assist in their work. We support CPN through the church’s annual operating budget.
Soup Stop - One of our longest running local mission projects, Soup Stop has operated out of our church for fourteen years. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, community members in need of a hot meal can come to our church for a lunch provided by What's Cooking restaurant. You may volunteer to work with Soup Stop or make a donation of food or money to assist in their work.
Other local mission activities include participation in CROP Walk, which raises funds for hunger locally and globally, and support for the local Charleston Area Food Pantry.
Global Mission
First Presbyterian Church has a long history of mission involvement. After the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, the congregation sent aid and assistance to the city and its people. More than a century later, mission is still a priority. Members have raised funds for wells in Malawi and anti-malaria nets for mothers and children in Africa. We have raised funds for a school bus for an ecumenical school in Palestine that includes Christian, Jewish, and Muslim children.
We support small-scale, organic farmers across the globe through our use of Equal Exchange coffee, chocolate, nuts and other products. We use eco-cups for our Sunday coffee hour and church events. We have collaborated with Ten Thousand Villages in Champaign, IL, to sell items made by craftspeople in the developing world. These gifts are available during the holiday season along with special occasion baskets of coffee, tea, or nuts. A recent youth confirmation class project included the sale of re-usable grocery tote bags produced by a women’s cooperative in Nicaragua. And one Sunday a month we take up a two-cent offering to help abate hunger locally and worldwide.
Furthermore, First Presbyterian Church provides monthly financial support to Suzie Frerichs, a Presbyterian Church (USA) mission worker in Mexico. Her assignment is with the rural, Náhuatl-speaking Presbytery of the Huastecas of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico
